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Flowers Fairies
Please, if you haven’t received it already, continue to watch for a sweet greeting from your WCA to your front doorstep in the coming days and weeks. If you live very far away from school you might find a treat in your mailbox instead!
The WCA would like to thank the flower fairies for the following heroic acts of kindness:
Celebrate May Day by leaving flowers on a friend’s porch.
Throughout history, humankind has celebrated the transition from season to season. The festival of May Day takes place on May 1 at the halfway point between the beginning of spring and the start of summer and originated in ancient times as a celebration of nature’s renewal. May Day shares origins with the Gaelic and pagan fire festival of Beltane, honoring Flora, the goddess of spring and flowers, as she returned to the earth to bring the fields back to life with her touch.
Our recent paradigm shift in daily life has brought, for many, a newly recovered appreciation for what is essential. It has brought a refreshing reprieve from the overestimated value of the ticking clock. Suddenly, accounting for every minute of the day is not the tool we use to measure our productivity. Many joke that they don’t know what day it is anymore.
As we observe that change in our daily life it is worth reminding you that a group of us parents and faculty are reading Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall-Kimmerer. In it, the author draws from her heritage in Native American stories and culture to point out our modern-day need to turn down the volume of our consumerism and heal our relationship with nature. To rediscover what is essential we must get closer to the rhythms of the burgeoning life around us. From trees to insects to rocks, nature’s language is clear.
Each week we are celebrating our community by sharing our fellow Waldorf families and their new routines at home.
Our New Normal
This week we welcome an update from the Rubin family.
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Many people in the school community know our family but for those of you who don’t, here is our story. My husband Jeff and I live in Essex with our four boys who are ages 16, 13, 10 (as of March 31), and 6; three cats, twelve hens, and a new Great Pyrenees puppy. Our two oldest boys attended the Cape Ann Waldorf School nursery program when they were 4 years old (2007-2008 and 2010-2011), but after that they homeschooled until 2017. Our socialite Satchel decided he wanted to go to public school when he was 11 because his friends in town told him it would be fun, so he was the first to go to school. A few months later our oldest son, Simon, joined the 8th grade class and our third son, Noah, joined the 1st grade class, both here at WSMF.
Springtime greetings to you!
We are knee-deep in seasonal change. Many formal faiths celebrate the change of seasons and in them, we can often find similar threads of hope and renewal. Our local chapter of the Anthroposophical Society reminds us that Spiritual Science shares that common thread. (more…)
Despite our absence from campus, these community updates will continue. We will make them relatable to the current situation, so you will want to turn to them each week. We are already inundated with the menu of online activities we can attend. Let’s use this space to tell our stories.
Our experiences vary these days. Some people are home trying to figure out how to make ends meet. Some are trying to figure out how to keep the children in a livable rhythm all day. Some are still out there working under the duress of the current health crisis. (more…)
Here we are; quite suddenly apart from each other. We all have different circumstances but in general, we are all participating in a strange human experiment imposed by Mother Nature.
If the mission of the WCA is to bring us into the warm arms of a bonded community then we have a unique challenge to provide that at a time when our community could otherwise drift away from each other. (more…)
It’s A Wonderful Day For Pie!
Saturday, March 14 is around the corner. If you haven’t signed up to bake a pie yet, now is the time! The signup sheets are outside the office. Then ingredient cards are in the office. Book a sitter. Grab a friend and enjoy an evening out!
To our grandparents, parent-child families and homeschool families, please consider yourselves invited!
Enjoy complimentary wine and appetizer and pie viewing reception at 6:00 pm before the live auction begins. Bid together with friends on the gluten-free baking class, the 12-month pie subscription and the custom made pie made by our own Waldorf students! (more…)
Waldorf Community Association update week of March 2
The highlight of our WCA activity right now is the Pie Auction. Please reserve Saturday, March 14 to support our annual fundraiser to enjoy a social evening of wine and cheese and laughs and pie!
See the general body of this Waldorf Buzz Newsletter for the full details about this event. (more…)
Waldorf Community Association update week of Feb. 24
The WCA presents our Lending Library at school! In the common area, you will see a new shelf (installed by our own Jack Hogan and Ken Katz) below the existing one, that is filling up fast with Waldorf inspired books, publications, and articles. There is a sign out binder available so that adults may check out any of the reading materials and return when you are finished. Thanks to all who have donated items for the library and we welcome suggestions for additions to our collection. We ask that our borrowers return the materials in a timely manner so that others may enjoy the information available. Two-week check-outs are suggested.
The Pie Auction is coming up. If you would like to help us with the planning and executing of the evenings events please let us know with a simple email to wca@waldorfmoraine.org
Contribute to Faculty & Staff Lunch
Thursday, February 27 • 11 AM – 3 PM
Every month, members of the WCA share in the joy of preparing and serving a warm lunch for our beloved faculty and staff. Last month was a Chinese New Year’s themed feast, and this month is Mediterranean!
It’s not too late to join in on the fun. Each participant picks a recipe to prepare and drops it off in the downstairs kitchen on the morning of the meal. If you would like to make something please contact Jessica Brand Alves at brand.jessica@gmail.com.
More Upcoming Events
Next WCA General Meeting
Thursday, March 12, 8:15 am- 10:00 am in the Trayes Room
This is your association. Our activities should reflect you. Come hear what we’re working on and be part of the planning. Your help is welcome as we plan our second annual Pi Day Pie Auction fundraiser, our next family Freecycle, movie night, cafe, playgroups, CPR class and more.
Explorations
We have tentative date set for weekend classes in this valuable course (September to March). Learn about the underpinning of Waldorf and Anthroposophy. Please go online to pre register at www.centerforanthroposophy.org If you have questions contact wca.
Bring back the cafe!
We have a few parents interested in reviving our morning tea and social time! If you would like to bake or help set up or help plan please contact wca.
Babysitter Share Now Available
A new community babysitter share program is now underway enabling our families to utilize children tenders already vetted by other Waldorf families. Do you have a babysitter that would be available for other families to use? Would your babysitter agree to having you share his or her name with other parents in our community? If so, or you are in need of a sitter, please send an email to wca@waldorfmoraine.org.
SAVE THE DATES!
Pi Day Pie Auction – Saturday, March 14, 6:00 pm – 9:00 pm.
It’s going to be a Wonderful Night For Pie! Save the important date, secure the babysitter, and join us for an adult evening filled with music, laughs, appetizers/wine, and loads of pie. The signup list for baking pies will be available at the end of February. For more information, contact us at wca@waldorfmoraine.org.
CPR/First Aid Class – April 4, 10:00 am – 11:30 (CPR) and 11:30 – 1:00 (first aid)
Certification for these handy skills will be offered to parents interested in knowing the basics of administering CPR and other first aid techniques.
Cost is $40 for CPR training, $20 for first aid training. A minimum of eight attendees is required, so please rsvp to wca@waldorfmoraine.org. Thank you!
Last, but not least, we share the verse we speak at each meeting…
“A healthy social life is found only when, in the mirror of each soul, the whole community finds its reflection, and when, in the whole community, the virtue of each one is living.”
– Rudolf Steiner